Cohen voiced his frustration with the redistricting process at a recent ADL event, blaming the ‘mamzers in the Tennessee General Assembly,’ using the Hebrew word for bastard
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U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) speaks during a Congressional briefing on Iran held by the Organization of Iranian American Communities on Capitol Hill on April 16, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleRep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) will retire from the House after 20 years, following a redistricting push by Tennessee Republicans that carved up his Memphis district, ending his re-election campaign, Cohen announced on Friday.
Cohen, 76, was the first Jewish person to represent Tennessee in Congress, and long stood out as a white, Jewish lawmaker representing a majority-Black district in the South, a rare profile in Congress. Prior to the redistricting move, which was fueled by a recent Supreme Court decision allowing states to eliminate some majority-minority districts, Cohen faced a challenge from far-left state Rep. Justin Pearson.
The longtime congressman voiced his frustration with the redistricting process, finalized just a week ago, at an Anti-Defamation League event in Washington, D.C. earlier this week.
“I was the first Jewish congressman elected in Tennessee. Served 20 years in Congress, and I was redistricted out of my seat, which was a majority African American seat, by the mamzers in the Tennessee General Assembly,” Cohen said, using the Hebrew word for bastard. “And there are a whole bunch of ‘em.”
He went on to recount the prejudice he faced earlier in his career as a Jewish candidate.
“In 1994, I ran for governor. I went to a little radio station in Dixon, Tenn. One-person radio station. Gravel road. Came in, talked to the man for a while and he said, ‘Son, you Jewish?’ I said, ‘Yes sir.’ He said, ‘Goooood luck!’” Cohen continued. “It ain’t changed a lot since then. Be careful. There’s a lot of mamzers out there. They don’t know us, but they don’t like us.”
Cohen told reporters in an emotional press conference on Friday that the decision to drop out of the race was “by far the most difficult moment I’ve had as an elected official.” He said he had considered running for one of the newly drawn districts, but that none of the seats were similar to his current Memphis-based district.
He said that if state courts block the redistricting process until 2028, he would run again in his current seat.
Cohen said that the new maps were drawn specifically to defeat him, the only Democratic member of the state’s delegation and that he did not feel he could properly represent the far-flung, GOP-friendly areas now incorporated into Memphis-area seats.
The veteran lawmaker has long been a voice on Capitol Hill against antisemitism and in support of Israel, though he took some stances more critical of Israel during the war in Gaza, including signing a letter accusing Israel of violating U.S. arms sales law. He told Jewish Insider he had considered but resisted pressure to back cutting off weapons sales to the Jewish state.
Cohen reiterated in his press conference on Friday that he was confident that he would be able to fend off the challenge from Pearson under the original district lines — as he has beaten numerous Black challengers over his time in office.
Cohen joins several other prominent Jewish and non-Jewish Democrats strongly supportive of Israel whose political futures have been thrown into question by the ongoing mid-decade redistricting wave across the country.
Fellow Jewish Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) are also facing uncertain re-election campaigns after Republicans redrew the Florida Congressional map in a more partisan manner.
Plus, Yossi Cohen talks to JI about political ambitions
Haim Tzach/GPO
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Sept. 15th, 2025
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we cover Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Israel this week and interview former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen who is releasing a new book tomorrow amid talk that he may enter the political arena. We report on the retirement of Rep. Michael McCaul and highlight antisemitic, white nationalist views expressed by the suspected shooter who critically injured two students at Evergreen High School in Colorado last week. We also report on the anti-Israel views of state Rep. Chris Rabb, who is running in the Democratic primary race for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Gov. Wes Moore, David Rubenstein and Esther Safran Foer.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik, with assists from Marc Rod and Melissa Weiss. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to attend the inauguration of the Pilgrim’s Road in the City of David in Jerusalem this evening after meeting earlier today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. More below on Rubio’s visit to Israel.
- Seb Gorka, the White House’s senior director for counterterrorism and a deputy assistant to the president, is also in Israel this week. After landing at Ben Gurion Airport yesterday, he wrote on X, “Utterly sobering to see the pictures of all the innocent hostages still being held by Hamas for more than 700 days lining the walkway to passport control.”
- Also in Israel is a delegation of nearly 250 state lawmakers from around the U.S., organized by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- A summit of Arab and Muslim leaders is being held in Doha, Qatar, today to denounce Israel’s strike on Hamas officials hosted by the Gulf state. Ahead of the gathering, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his Qatari counterpart in Doha yesterday …
- Stateside, RJC board member Eric Levine is holding a fundraiser for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). The invite to the event, co-hosted by James Baker, Wayne Berman, Jeff Cohen, Steve Sall, RJC PAC and the NRSC, said the fundraiser will help Senate Republicans maintain their majority and “stand against the tide of communism and antisemitism overtaking the Democratic Party.”
- The Academic Engagement Network is hosting a three-day symposium for college administrators for the launch of its fifth annual Signature Seminar Series. The gathering, taking place in Washington, will focus on how administrations can meaningfully address antisemitism on college campuses.
- The Eradicate Hate Global Summit begins in Pittsburgh today.
- Today is the five-year anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords at the White House on Sept. 15, 2020.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S GABBY DEUTCH
Over the weekend, the California State Assembly passed a bill that is intended to address what Jewish community advocates describe as crisis levels of antisemitism in the state’s K-12 schools.
The bill passed despite the objections of the powerful California Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, which had stalled the legislation in July, claiming that efforts to combat antisemitism could impinge on teachers’ academic freedom when it came to discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It was just one of several examples of influential state and national teachers’ unions presenting a roadblock against efforts to fight antisemitism in public schools, where discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students has skyrocketed over the past two years — even though many of those efforts have broad support from within the Jewish community, and from outside it, too.
In California, the CTA and anti-Israel groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations were on one side of the issue, facing a diverse coalition of the bill’s backers that included the legislature’s Jewish, Black, Latino and Asian American and Pacific Islander caucuses. In an effort to appease the CTA during negotiations, some parts of the bill were removed, including language that would’ve defined what constituted an antisemitic learning environment.
But the union never changed course.
MOSSAD MEMOIR
Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen talks covert missions, Oct. 7 failures in new book
Like any former Mossad chief, Yossi Cohen has long been a relatively elusive figure in Israeli public life. So his recent embrace of the spotlight has left Israeli politicos wondering whether he will run for prime minister in the next election. Cohen received attention for commanding ambitious Mossad operations, such as smuggling Iran’s nuclear archive to Israel, and for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly naming him as one of his possible heirs, but he rarely gave interviews — until now. Cohen has been on a Hebrew media blitz ahead of Tuesday’s release of his new book, The Sword of Freedom: Israel, Mossad and the Secret War, in Hebrew and English. It reads, in many ways, like the kind of book a politician would publish before a big run, to let potential voters get to know him — albeit with the much more exciting elements of spycraft. Yet, in an interview with Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov last week at his office in a Tel Aviv high-rise, where Cohen’s day job is representing the Japanese investment holding company SoftBank in Israel, he dismissed the idea that his book was the first step in a political campaign.
A question of timing: “That was not the reason for me to write the book,” he said. “I started writing the book something like three years ago, much earlier. I decided to [publish the book] now, because I believe that now is the time … Since I started the book we had the judicial reform, the seventh of October, a war against Hezbollah and the Iranian events. Each of those chapters had to be updated.” Still, Cohen added, “I can’t say that one day it will not serve my political goals if I will decide to go into politics.” Thus far, Cohen has kept politics as an “if.” In the past, it was a “no,” he said, but now, he’s thinking about it.
ENDURING FRIENDSHIP
Rubio starts Israel visit with prayer at Western Wall
Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Jerusalem on Sunday, at the start of a five-day trip to Israel and the U.K. Rubio began the visit with prayers at the Western Wall, together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Premier praise: During a tour of the Western Wall Tunnels, Netanyahu called Rubio an “extraordinary friend of the State of Israel.” Netanyahu said, “The Israeli-American alliance is as strong and as durable as the stones of the Western Wall that we just touched. Under President [Donald] Trump and Secretary Rubio and their entire team, this alliance has never been stronger, and we deeply appreciate it.” Rubio’s visit comes days after Israel’s attempted strike on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, which the secretary said he was “not happy” about.
stepping down
Michael McCaul, prominent GOP voice on foreign policy and homeland security, to retire
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), a former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committees, announced Sunday that he will retire from Congress at the end of next year, after 11 terms in office, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Foreign policy focus: McCaul, 63, has been a critical voice for traditional conservative internationalism at a time of rising isolationist sentiment among some factions of the GOP; he’s seen as a key leader who helped drive the passage of supplemental aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan in the House last year. The Texas congressman has been a staunch supporter of Israel and an Iran hawk in the House and has also been a lead Republican voice in support of expanded funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which helps protect Jewish and other vulnerable nonprofits.
EXTREMISM IN ACTION
Colorado school shooter expressed antisemitic, white nationalist views
Desmond Holly, the suspected shooter who critically injured two students at Evergreen High School in Colorado on Wednesday, shared antisemitic and white nationalist views online, according to the Denver Post and the Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Concerning history: According to the Denver Post, one of Holly’s online accounts used a coded slogan for Holocaust denial and reposted antisemitic videos and other videos showing individuals in Nazi uniforms. The ADL’s Center on Extremism said Friday that Holly’s TikTok accounts were “filled with white supremacist symbolism,” including a reference to the white nationalist “14 words” slogan, and utilized a neo-Nazi symbol in his profile photo. The suspected shooter, like several other recent attackers, was also active in violent online forums and showed a fascination with previous mass killers.
PHILLY FAULTLINES
Philadelphia House race puts spotlight on virulently anti-Israel Democratic candidate
The wide-open primary race for the most Democratic district in the country is highlighting stark divisions in Israel policy among the leading candidates, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Candidate field: The race for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District — which includes western Philadelphia, Center City and parts of north Philadelphia — is attracting a host of prominent local officials, as well as some outsider candidates, including state Sen. Sharif Street, who recently resigned as state Democratic Party chair, progressive state Rep. Chris Rabb, state Rep. Morgan Cephas and physician Dr. David Oxman. Dr. Ala Stanford, a local surgeon and activist who gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, is also seen as a likely candidate, and former City Councilman Derek Green may also join the race. Rabb has an extensive history, particularly since Oct. 7, of anti-Israel activism, and has accused Israel of genocide.
DUELING ENDORSEMENT
J Street endorses Hakeem Jeffries for the first time
The progressive Israel advocacy group J Street endorsed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Friday, marking the first time the top Democratic congressional leader accepted an endorsement from the group. With Jeffries endorsed by J Street, the group has now thrown its support behind the entire House Democratic leadership team: Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA). Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar have all also been endorsed by AIPAC, and they have each traveled to Israel on AIPAC-affiliated trips, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Announcement: “J Street is proud to endorse the House Democratic leadership team at such a critical moment in the US-Israel relationship,” J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami said in a statement Friday. “After 23 months of war, it is important to endorse Democratic leaders who understand the time has come for a just and lasting peace that brings the remaining hostages home and immediately and permanently surges aid to the people of Gaza.”
Worthy Reads
Loaded Language: Andrew Weinstein, a former U.S. public delegate to the United Nations under the Biden administration, writes in Time magazine about why the use of phrases like “globalize the intifada” are so damaging. “Language doesn’t only reflect intention — it carries the weight of past use, of collective trauma, of coded threats. It has an impact. And so, when a community tells you a phrase evokes existential fear, it’s not enough to say, ‘I didn’t mean it that way.’ To do so is more than just a failure of sensitivity — it’s a failure of solidarity. And this is where so many well-meaning people lose their way. They treat empathy as if it were conditional, or zero-sum. They hear Jewish pain and ask first whether it aligns with their politics, parsing slogans instead of listening to those affected by them. This hurts Jews. But even more than that, it fractures coalitions, pushing away people who, too, strive for collective justice — and driving them toward those who cynically (and capriciously) dangle the carrot of protection.” [Time]
Is Mamdani a Team Player? In The Hill, Amanda Berman, founder and executive director of the Zioness Action fund, pushes back against pressure by supporters of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Democratic leaders to endorse him, highlighting Mamdani’s own recent history during the last presidential campaign. “Mamdani didn’t just fail to support Democratic presidential nominees Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden in last year’s existentially urgent campaign, he spoke out and organized against them. In March of 2024, Mamdani urged voters to withhold their vote from Biden. ‘As proud Democrats and elected officials and New Yorkers,’ Mamdani declared, ‘we endorse the Leave it Blank campaign.’ Last summer, as the world watched the Democrats make history by nominating the first Black woman on a major party ticket, Mamdani proudly platformed the Uncommitted Movement, which protested her convention. This was not passive disagreement. It was an intentional and successful effort to sabotage the Democratic ticket in a general election — when the risks could not have been more clear, when every vote mattered, when Democrats were working tirelessly to defeat an authoritarian megalomaniac who had already incited a violent insurrection to stop the peaceful transfer of power.” [The Hill]
Word on the Street
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, becoming one of the few prominent Democrats in the state to do so, saying, “I didn’t leave my conversations with him aligned on every issue” but the two “discussed the need to combat the rise of antisemitism urgently and unequivocally”…
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who is mulling a 2026 challenge to Hochul, responded to the endorsement with a statement accusing Hochul of “embrac[ing] this raging Communist who will destroy New York making it less affordable and more dangerous — once again putting criminals and communists first, and New Yorkers LAST”…
In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said the New York City mayoral race, in which Mamdani is the front-runner, “has really no impact on my life.” Fetterman also said Hamas and Iran are to blame for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza: “It is hell on earth. Why do some people blame Israel for that? I blame Hamas and Iran for that,” he said…
The Washington Post reports that the Mossad declined to implement a ground operation in Doha, Qatar, last week to assassinate senior Hamas officials in the Gulf nation over concerns that such a move would damage ties with Doha as it acts as a mediator between Israel and Hamas. As a result, Israel instead carried out an airstrike that looks like it failed to kill the top targets …
CENTCOM head Bradley Cooper, joined by U.S. special envoy Tom Barrack, met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus…
Antisemitic conspiracy theories proliferated online in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the Anti-Defamation League found, with over 10,000 posts on X that include the phrase “Israel killed Charlie Kirk” posted in the two days after his murder…
Republican officials are considering an effort to persuade former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to drop his bid for Senate, as he pursues Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) seat upon his retirement, and instead challenge Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Politico reports…
“The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” a documentary about Oct. 7, won the People’s Choice Award for best documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival, after originally being canceled due to the festival’s concern that Hamas footage had not been approved for use…
Among several actors who used their platform at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles last night to criticize Israel, Hannah Einbinder called to “Free Palestine” and Javier Bardem wore a keffiyeh while calling for a “commercial and diplomatic blockade” on Israel…
The Wall Street Journal profiles billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, as he backs a bid for Paramount, headed by his son David, to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery and The Free Press…
Nika Soon-Shiong, daughter of the Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, has been tapped as the publisher of Drop Site News, a far-left anti-Israel outlet. She told Semafor that she was inspired by the site’s coverage of the war in Gaza…
The Vuelta a Espana bike race in Madrid was called off during its finale on Sunday after anti-Israel protesters occupied the route and overturned barriers…
Police in London arrested and charged a 37-year-old homeless man with smearing feces on synagogues and other Jewish institutions in the city…
Holocaust survivor Fania Fainer, known for the heart-shaped booklet of birthday wishes she was gifted by fellow prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944 — an object she preserved throughout death marches and the war and that went on to become the subject of a film and a book, died at 100…
Pic of the Day
Several hundred people gathered on Sunday evening at the French Embassy in Washington for the Capital Jewish Museum’s second annual gala, in service of a simple theme: “preserving history and building bridges,” Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports. The gala honored the investor and philanthropist David Rubenstein and Esther Safran Foer, the former longtime CEO of Sixth & I Synagogue and the Capital Jewish Museum’s founding board president. Speaking at the event, Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland decried rising antisemitism in the United States and, in particular, the killing of Israeli Embassy staffers Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky outside the museum in May. Read more here.
Birthdays
Film executive, she produced “The Hunger Games” film series, Nina Jacobson turns 60…
Founder and former CEO of Elektra Records, he is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Jac Holzman turns 94… Professor at the Hebrew University and a leading scholar of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Emanuel Tov turns 84… Chief rabbi of Migdal HaEmek, known as the “Disco Rabbi,” Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman turns 79… Professor emerita of education at Boston University’s Wheelock College, Diane Elizabeth Levin turns 78… NYC-based composer and multi-instrument musician, Ned Rothenberg turns 69… Television comedy writer, he served as a showrunner, writer, and producer for “The Simpsons” and co-created the animated series “The Critic,” Michael L. Reiss turns 66… Business litigator in the Miami office of Gunster, Aron U. Raskas… Managing partner and chief technology officer at Differential Ventures in Philadelphia, he is also the founder of a series of kosher restaurants, David Magerman… NPR’s media correspondent, David Folkenflik turns 56… Actor, best known for his roles on “Sports Night” and “The Good Wife,” Josh Charles turns 54… Comedian, writer and actress, Kira Soltanovich turns 52… VP of leadership at the Anti-Defamation League until earlier this year, Deborah Leipzig… Customer success manager at Screencastify, event organizer and fundraiser, Shayla Rosen… Author and longtime education correspondent at NPR, Anya Kamenetz turns 45… Data scientist, economist and author of the 2017 New York Times bestseller Everybody Lies, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz turns 43… Screenwriter, film producer and director, often in collaboration with his childhood friend Seth Rogen, Evan D. Goldberg turns 43… Model and Israeli beauty pageant winner, Yael Markovich turns 41… Partner in CHW Strategic Advisors and CEO of Harmon Face Values, Jonah Raskas… CFO at Israel on Campus Coalition, Tomer Zvi Elias… Chief strategy officer at PW Communications, Amanda Bresler… Reporter at The New York Times, Eliza Shapiro… Singer and actress, she was the 2009 winner of the Israeli version of “A Star is Born,” Roni Dalumi turns 34… Beauty pageant titleholder, she was crowned Miss Israel 2012, Shani Hazan turns 33…
Like the retiring congressman, New York Assemblyman Micah Lasher endorsed the anti-Israel mayoral nominee
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) speaks to the media before as closed door meeting at Capitol Hill on November 13, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Rep. Jerry Nadler’s (D-NY) surprise decision on Monday to retire at the end of his current term has set off what is expected to be a crowded primary to succeed the long-serving Jewish Democrat — with a growing number of candidates weighing bids for the coveted Manhattan House seat he has held for more than three decades.
The looming open-seat primary has also raised questions about whether candidates will embrace Nadler’s increasingly skeptical views on Israel, and how the issue will shape the race. The 78-year-old lawmaker, who represents one of the largest Jewish constituencies in the nation, has long identified as a pro-Israel progressive, even as he has vocally criticized Israel’s conduct during its ongoing war in Gaza and drew scrutiny from some Jewish community leaders over his early endorsement of Zohran Mamdani, the far-left Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City.
In an interview first announcing his retirement on Monday, Nadler, the dean of New York’s congressional delegation, told The New York Times that he believed Israel was committing mass murder and war crimes in Gaza “without question,” and said he would back efforts to withhold offensive weapons transfers to Israel during the rest of his term — in a sharp break from his previous stance on continued military aid to the Jewish state.
It remains to be seen how Nadler’s approach will influence the race. The list of potential candidates includes Micah Lasher, a Jewish assemblyman who is expected to claim Nadler’s blessing, according to people familiar with the situation. Lasher, a former aide to Nadler, has built strong ties to the pro-Israel community, but he faced backlash from local rabbis over his similarly quick choice to support Mamdani, in spite of the nominee’s hostile views on Israel.
One Jewish leader said it was premature to draw conclusions about Lasher’s positions on Israel, while voicing confidence that he “makes up his own mind” on tough issues, regardless of where his allies may stand.
“Lasher is center-left but has always been relatively moderate on Israel,” a pro-Israel strategist added in assessing the assemblyman’s stances on the Middle East.
Still, “the Zohran thing threw a lot of people off,” another Jewish leader said of Lasher, 43. “I do worry with Micah that, because of the political pressures, he could end up turning himself into a Jerry.”
Lasher did not respond to a request for comment from Jewish Insider on Tuesday.
Despite speculation about his approach, Jewish activists and some Democratic strategists broadly suggested that the pro-Israel community would, by varying degrees, likely be comfortable with Lasher, in addition to other lawmakers from state and local office who are said to be mulling campaigns of their own in Nadler’s district, which covers Manhattan’s Upper West and East Sides.
Among them are two City Council members, Erik Bottcher and Julie Menin, who are also eyeing bids for state Senate and Council speaker, respectively. Menin, a Jewish Democrat, was among some local elected officials who chose not to attend a meeting with Mamdani this summer that had been organized by Nadler, a person familiar with the matter told JI. Keith Powers, a city councilman who recently lost a bid for Manhattan borough president and is looking at another open state Senate race, is also weighing a bid, sources said, as is Alex Bores, an assemblyman on the East Side.
“I commend Congressman Nadler for his years of public service,” Bores said in a statement shared with JI on Tuesday, indicating he is exploring a bid for the open House seat. “Rep. Nadler has always led with his convictions and cared deeply about his constituents; that is the exact kind of representation that the people of the 12th Congressional District deserve.”
Pro-Israel strategists indicated that they had more urgent concerns about another possible candidate, Lina Khan, the former commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission and a progressive icon who now lives in Harlem and has been “shopping around for a district for months,” according to a source familiar with the situation.
Khan, whose name has been floated as a potential candidate, could be a prolific fundraiser in a campaign, sources speculated. While she does not appear to have publicly addressed key Middle East questions, the anti-monopoly advocate has praised Mamdani’s campaign, raising early concerns that he would have a close and powerful ally in Congress if both are elected. Khan did not respond to a request for comment about her plans.
In addition to Khan, another prominent figure whose name has been privately mentioned in the days after Nadler’s unexpected announcement is Chelsea Clinton, according to people familiar with the conversations. Clinton has not confirmed her interest in the race to succeed Nadler but is actively considering a campaign after debating a run for an open City Council seat last cycle, said one person informed of her thinking. Her mother, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, voiced appreciation for Nadler in a social media post on Tuesday, after he officially announced his departure from the House.
Chelsea Clinton, 45, has been outspoken against antisemitism and would bring considerable name recognition to the race, though pro-Israel activists said they were largely unfamiliar with her views on Israel’s war in Gaza.
The primary is likely to draw outside spending from pro-Israel groups including AIPAC and Democratic Majority for Israel, both of which have engaged in a number of House races where divisions over Middle East policy have fueled mounting tensions amid the war in Gaza.
Brian Romick, chairman of DMFI’s political arm, DMFI PAC, said the group “will be watching closely as the field takes shape and look forward to meeting with the candidates.”
A spokesperson for AIPAC declined to comment on Tuesday.
Two potential candidates who would likely align most closely with AIPAC and are currently weighing bids include Natalie Barth, a philanthropist who has previously served as the president of Park Avenue Synagogue, and Elisha Wiesel, son of the Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Elie Wiesel, people familiar with their plans told JI.
Wiesel, who has been critical of Mamdani’s approach to Israel and antisemitism, had endorsed former Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) when she ran against Nadler in a bitterly contested primary three years ago.
Whitney Tilson, a former hedge fund executive who ran a failed campaign for New York City mayor as a moderate pro-Israel Democrat, is also considering a bid to replace Nadler, writing in a social media post on Tuesday that residents of the district, which had narrowly favored Mamdani in the primary, “have a special responsibility to lead the” fight against President Donald Trump, “defend the rule of law” and “support our allies, especially Israel and Ukraine.”
Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Jewish campus activist who has celebrated Trump’s crackdown on antisemitism, also confirmed to JI on Tuesday that he is weighing a campaign, saying he has been “encouraged to run by a group of New Yorkers from a broad ideological spectrum.”
“I am actively considering it,” he said. “If I can make a positive difference to my city and community, I would be foolish not to. There is a strong desire amongst New York Democrats for a return to normalcy. The party has steered too far to the left and I will help in any way I can, including running for office.”
Some observers have suggested that Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), a moderate Jewish Democrat whose deeply progressive district includes Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, could potentially jump over to Nadler’s race — where he could face a more friendly electorate and forestall challengers to his left.
But a spokesperson for Goldman, Simone Kanter, dismissed such speculation. “No truth at all, no idea where that’s coming from,” he told JI on Tuesday.
As the field takes shape, Nadler is already facing a younger challenger, Liam Elkind, who in his launch video in July called on the veteran congressman to retire to make room for a new generation of party leadership.
But Elkind, a 26-year-old nonprofit leader who is running on a broadly pro-Israel platform, is likely to face an uphill battle with the primary now expected to draw more well-known rivals with establishment credentials.
The progressive stalwart's retirement announcement opens up a recently redrawn Manhattan district that the congressman has held for over three decades
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) arrives to view proceedings in immigration court at the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building on June 18, 2025 in New York City.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), a progressive stalwart and a longtime Democratic pillar on the House Judiciary Committee, announced his retirement Sunday evening, opening up a recently redrawn Manhattan district that the congressman has held for over three decades.
Nadler, whose district has one of the largest Jewish constituencies in the country, has long positioned himself as a progressive pro-Israel advocate, even as he broke with the organized Jewish community on some issues — most notably his support for former President Obama’s Iran nuclear agreement in 2015.
But in recent months, he has emerged as being at odds with the New York Jewish community on some high-profile issues. Even as most of the leading New York state Democratic voices have held back any endorsement of far-left New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, Nadler was one of the first House Democrats to offer the anti-Israel candidate his support — and has worked to secure support from a deeply skeptical Jewish community towards Mamdani.
Nadler has also lately become a sharp critic of the Jewish state, in contrast to his pro-Israel Jewish Democratic colleagues from his home state. In a New York Times interview announcing his departure, he accused Israel of committing mass murder and war crimes in Gaza “without question.” He told the paper that when he returns to Congress, he will support legislation withholding offensive military aid to Israel, joining a growing roster of progressive Democrats in doing so — a move that could give cover for other colleagues to follow suit.
During Donald Trump’s presidency, Nadler saw his national profile grow when he led the first House impeachment hearings against the president as Judiciary Committee chairman, sharing the spotlight with then-Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA). He came across as a partisan fighter during the process, and played a much more low-profile role during Trump’s second impeachment.
The impeachment fights enhanced his political profile in his solidly liberal district, helping prepare him for a heated primary in 2022 against a longtime colleague, former Rep. Carolyn Maloney, after redistricting put the two Democrats in the same district. Despite the contentious campaign, Nadler comfortably prevailed by 31 points.
And while there are plenty of ambitious New York City Democrats that could run to succeed Nadler, the congressman told the New York Times that he plans to support state Assemblyman Micah Lasher, a former aide, who represents parts of the upper West Side in the state legislature.
Former New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor this year, is also from Nadler’s district and could decide to run for Nadler’s seat.
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